Techniques for automatically determining, on a pixel by pixel basis, whether imagery includes ground images or is obscured by cloud cover. The techniques include training a Neural Network, making an initial determination of cloud or ground by using the Neural Network, and performing a max-flow, min-cut operation on the image to determine whether each pixel is a cloud or ground imagery.
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3. The method of claim 2, further comprising connecting the pixels of the grid-graph to at least one of a source or a sink using the score as the capacity, wherein one of the source or the sink represents the cloud imagery and the other of the source or the sink represents the ground imagery, and wherein determining which portions of the image include the cloud imagery and which portions of the image include the ground imagery is further based on the grid-graph.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the preliminary classifications is performed using a neural network.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the preliminary classifications is performed by reconstructing each of the multiple portions in a cloud dictionary and in a ground dictionary, and determining the preliminary classifications based on which reconstruction is more accurate.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the image is a satellite image obtained using a satellite.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding to metadata associated with each pixel an indication of whether each such pixel includes the cloud imagery.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting, by the processor, pixels for an orthomosaic that is free of clouds based on the metadata.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining which portions of the image include the cloud imagery and which portions of the image include the ground imagery is performed by performing a min-cut/max-flow segmentation on the image to define portions of the image that are believed to include the cloud imagery and portions of the image that are believed to include the ground imagery.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein confirming which portions of the image include the cloud imagery and which portions of the image include the ground imagery includes connecting the pixels of the grid-graph to at least one of a source or a sink using the score as the capacity, wherein one of the source or the sink represents the cloud imagery and the other of the source or the sink represents the ground imagery, and wherein confirming which portions of the image include the cloud imagery and which portions of the image include the ground imagery is further based on the grid-graph.
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June 15, 2020
November 15, 2022
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